Janet Lawson
Janet Lawson (November 13, 1940 – January 22, 2021) was an American jazz singer and educator. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish father who played drums and a Catholic mother who sang. They worked on songs at home, and she sang on radio and regional TV as a child. As a teenager, she sang with a local big band, and at eighteen she moved to New York City to work as a secretary at Columbia Records.
Lawson’s singing was influenced by saxophonists Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Sonny Rollins. Jazz critic John S. Wilson praised her voice in a 1977 New York Times article, calling it the “Dream Jazz Voice” with a rich lower register and a flexible high range.
She made her debut at the Village Vanguard with Art Farmer, and in 1976 formed the Janet Lawson Quintet. By 1983 the group included Roger Rosenberg, Bill O’Connell, Ratzo Harris, and Jimmy Madison. Lawson became known as a skilled scat singer and improviser.
She performed with many jazz greats, including Art Farmer, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, Eddie Jefferson, Cedar Walton, and others. She taught voice at New York University and The New School, gave private lessons, taught elementary school children, and led youth music camps in Latvia.
In the early 2000s, Lawson faced health problems, including Lyme disease and Bell’s palsy that damaged her vocal cords. She also had Parkinson’s disease. She passed away on January 22, 2021, in New Jersey, at the age of 80.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:08 (CET).